Tag: Adrian Heath

MLS Daily: Minnesota United thrashed yet again on the road.

Published on by Liam_RichnerLeave a comment

Adrian Heath’s side have conceded 18 goals in just four MLS games this season. 

Minnesota United are quickly becoming the whipping boys of the MLS.

Following on from their 5-1 defeat to Portland on the opening weekend and their 1-6 home loss to Atlanta United, the Loons went down 5-2 to New England Revolution yesterday.

Adrian Heath’s side again conceded early as Juan Agudelo met Chris Tierney’s cross with a free header inside four minutes.

Collen Warner equalised for the away side, but New England were soon ahead once again through Kei Kamara.

Lee Nguyen made it 3-1 from the penalty spot, with Agudelo netting his second just before half-time with a low shot.

Brent Kallman halved the deficit when he struck home a half volley three minutes into the second half, but another penalty was converted this time by Tierney to make it 5-2 to the hosts.

Twice Minnesota conceded just minutes after getting themselves back into the game. No team can expect to win games when they give away cheap goals so soon after scoring.

Offensively the Loons aren’t so bad. They have scored in each of their four matches so far. However, it is their fragile defence that is causing a lot of the problems.

They have conceded an average of 4.5 goals a game so far, and only have the single point so far this season from a possible 12.

Does Heath need to invest in some quality defenders? They are certainly missing a leader on the pitch. Someone that will keep the line, someone that will make sure that the defence is solid and will keep clean sheets. Whether that means signing a DP then so be it. They need to change something otherwise they will not survive in the MLS.

They may have been missing nine players through internationals and injuries, but the Head Coach was not impressed with his side in the opening 45.

“The first half was really, really poor defensively,” Heath told MNUFC.com after the game.

“Every time they attacked it looked like they were going to score.

“I thought we were a lot better in the second half, but it was a little bit too little, too late.”

As for the Revs, it is a first win of 2017 and another home opening victory.

Jay Heaps’ side are now unbeaten in 11 home openers, and after two tough away defeats at Colorado and Dallas, this could be the platform on which New England build upon this season.

New England’s Diego Fagundez praised teammate Agudelo after the game. He told press after the game that “If he makes good runs we will reward him and thats what we did. We can beat anybody in the league if we play like we did again.”

Agudelo added: “The mind set was really strong from the team. The coaches told us to come out flying at home. We wanted to win it inside the first 15 minutes and that’s exactly what we did.”

Elsewhere, Portland Timbers’ 100 percent start to the 2017 season is over after they lost 3-2 away at Columbus Crew.

Crew now overtake New York Red Bulls at the top of the Eastern Conference, after Jesse Marsch’s side drew 0-0 at home to Real Salt Lake.

MLS Daily: Minnesota United taught harsh lesson in Portland after 2017 MLS curtain-raiser.

Published on by Liam_RichnerLeave a comment

No one said it was going to be easy. 

Minnesota United and Atlanta United are both in their maiden MLS campaigns this year, with the former taking centre stage last night against 2015 MLS Champions Portland Timbers.

However it was to be a tough first night for Adrian Heath’s side, who for all their possession, crashed to a 5-1 defeat at Providence Park.

Lawrence Olum scored the first goal of the 2017 MLS season before braces from midfielder Diego Valeri and striker Fanendo Adi made the scoreline convincing. Christian Ramirez netted Minnesota’s first ever goal in America’s top division, but it would turn out to be just a consolation.

Minnesota were very much in the game for 80 minutes, until three quick-fire goals sunk the hearts of the travelling fans.

Adi, whose two goals came in stoppage time at the end of the second half to kill off any Minnesota fightback, told Portland after the game: “I knew I was always going to score.

“I have been working hard in training and I feel confident in front of goal.

“It’s an amazing result. They are an excellent new team and we are very happy to come out with the victory.”

Defender Olum added: “To win the way we won in front of the home crowd is an incredible feeling.

Timbers head coach Caleb Porter believed the score did not justify the performance of Minnesota.

“They are a good side (Minnesota). They will beat teams this year,” he admitted.

“The way we managed to control those last 10 minutes after conceding shows that this group can be scary going forward when they want to be.

“The back four did well to manage their counter-attacking style so overall it was a good game from us.”

 

Heath, who used to play for Everton, told Minnesota after the game: “When I look at our long periods of possession, that gives me a little bit of optimism as well, that we can actually keep the ball with the players we’ve got on the team.

“Their goals were at really crucial times, every time we felt we were just creeping back into the game then, we had another one against us.

“I thought we started a little apprehensive but we grew into the game in the first half. Second half, I thought we started to impose ourselves a little bit. Somebody just said we had the most possession this evening, which surprised me, but I thought we were in the game.

“We played against a really good team, but at the 82nd minute, it’s still 2-1 and we’re looking more likely at that stage. To finish the game with 5 goals against is a little bit of a poor reflection of the evening.”